A shift lever used in controlling a manual transmission is typically moved in its operation in both longitudinal and transverse directions following a generally H-shaped pattern. In some automatic transmissions, it is desired that the automatic transmissions may be manually shifted by operating a shift lever under proper shift control provided by a guide slot (or a so-called gate-pattern) through which the shift lever extends. Such shift levers are required to be supported so as to be pivotable around two axes at a right angle to each other. The two axes are often referred to as a selection axis and a shifting axis. When a shift lever assembly is installed in a center floor of the vehicle, the selection axis is generally in parallel to the longitudinal (for-and-aft) direction of the vehicle and the shifting axis is generally in parallel to the transverse (lateral) direction of the vehicle.
In some conventional shift lever assemblies, the shifting movements of the shift lever around the shifting axis are transmitted to the transmission as linear movements of a cable connected to the shift lever, with the cable being connected to the shift lever at a point spaced from a pivot point at which the shift lever is pivotably supported. The cable is typically received in a fixed casing or sheath for guiding the linear movements of the cable, and a part of the cable extends out from the casing. In such an arrangement, the selection movements of the shift lever around the selection axis cause the connection between the shift lever and the cable to move transversely, accordingly causing the cable to bend at the end of the cable casing. Generally, repeatedly bending a cable over large angles tends to prematurely degrade the cable. In such conventional shift lever assemblies, in order to achieve a smaller bending angle of the cable, the distance from the connection between the shift lever and the cable to the bending point (or the end of the cable casing) becomes longer. This leads to a larger shift lever assembly which consumes valuable space in the vehicle.